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Green Terror sick. Mouth/eating problems

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I have a Green Terror with a Rafeal Catfish in a tank by themselves. The water parameters are all checking out to be just fine. I went home for school for the summer and brought my hospital tank home to keep my Green Terror (4 in.) and Rafeal in while I was home, I came back 2 months later and put them both back into my main tank. I checked the levels before putting them back in and everything checked out o.k. (i dont think I checked amonia reading though). Both fish were fine for about 2 weeks and then my Green Terror Cichlid started chewing up his food for a long time, only swam after 1-2 pellets at a time when he used to eat and swallow every pellet even before it hit the ground, spitting out his food after like only the 10th little pellet. He is still very active and swims about the tank eager for food its just he takes sooo long to chew now and he is eating considerably less food now and even after he spits food out he will put it in his mouth and spit it out again, but will still swim back and forth asking for more food.
His symptoms are: he has bloated looking cheeks/mouth area and his gills seems to open more. He is breathing a little heavier at times throughout the day and it seems his gills are working a little harder. The underneath of his mouth (the fishes chin?) also is bloated looking. The rest of his body is fine and he is still super energetic. There is definitely something wrong with the area around his mouth (cheeks and gills) are very bloated looking. His gills also might not be the right color)
I have treated for Maracyn two and Prazi (seperate times of course). Both treatments have had no effect. I also fed him antibiotic medicated food for internal and external bacterial infections and treated the main tank for jungle parasite clear. The symptoms have been present for about 3 weeks now without any improvement or worsening.
The catfish is fine though. Please if anyone has any idea let me know.

How did you keep your main tank cycled while you were home for the summer ?

Could your fish be in a un-cycled tank right now ?

If you take your time to do the research FIRST, you can successfully set-up and keep ANY type of aquarium with ease."Not using a quarantine tank is like playing Russian roulette. Nobody wins the game, some people just get to play longer than others." - Anthony CalfoFishless CycleCycling with FishMarine Aquarium Info [URL="http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.com/"]

Well heres what I did, I brought my main filter home with me for the summer and i put on my hospital tank filter onto my main tank when I left. When I came home after the 2 months I did a water change and added in the water I brought with me that was cycled, I put back on the good filter that was with me all summer and was cycled, and I tested the water before I put the fish back in (everything but ammonia). 2 weeks later when my fish started showing symptoms I brought my water in and the fish store tested both and said they were both fine.
And right now my Green Terror is in my hospital tank which is cycled and fine as well.

Today though something strange happened. I looked in the hospital tank and my Green Terror had lain its first batch of eggs : ) But there is no male in there nor has she ever encountered a male as far as I know. Could all of her symptoms be attributed to egg laying? it doesnt explain the spitting out food though and the forever chewing of her food.
she still has red gill color too.

There really is no such thing as cycled water. When we say we have a cycled tank, we really have a cycled filter (as you have already stated). Almost all of the bacteria that is needed to maintain your water parameters will be in your filter. When a filter is left running without a food sourse (ammonia from fish waste) for longer than 24 hours or so, your bacteria will start to die off. The filter that you left running on your main tank over the summer would no longer have had any live bacteria left in it. If this filter was running on the main tank for 2 weeks after you got back, there would be some bacteria on it, but not a lot.

I'm not too sure of what is going on with your fish, but I would suggest some very large water changes for now. Maybe around 50 to 75% water changes every second day. Lots of fresh clean water will always help fish to heal faster. If your fish is currently in a uncycled tank, this will also help to keep the water safe until you can get a ammonia test kit.

If you take your time to do the research FIRST, you can successfully set-up and keep ANY type of aquarium with ease."Not using a quarantine tank is like playing Russian roulette. Nobody wins the game, some people just get to play longer than others." - Anthony CalfoFishless CycleCycling with FishMarine Aquarium Info [URL="http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.com/"]

I agree. You should never leave your water up to guesswork. It's important to know you have no ammonia or nitrites. Especially when adding medications. Maracyn2 is for bacterial problems and Parasite clear for Ick. I see no evidence any of that was needed altho I do believe in using PraziPro for all fish.

Maracyn2 is good medication but is an antibiotic and antibiotics will kill your cycle.....if you had one. Big, weekly water changes can cure a lot of problems.

The bacteria that was in your filter died in those two months and like Cliff said......bacteria is not in the water. It's in the filter media.

I do appreciate the helpful knowledge. The sad thing is that I live 7 hrs away so when i went back home for the summer there was nothing I could have done to keep that tank cycled, I probably could have approached the situation better I just needed to get them out of that bucket i couldnt leave my battery operated airstone running all night.
Today 1 side of her gills/cheek area got very poofy and she is breathing still heavy. I noticed a dark blue streak running down her cheek where the bright green/turqouise color is. Never seen that dark blue streak and 1 gill/cheek is definitely poofed out.
The maracyn two i used as well, on the back of the box it said it would not kill my good bacteria and to leave my filter in if it was over 9 days old. So i did do that.
I will keep up with the water changes but if it was a ammonia problem is there anything I can do for my fish to help it out besides water changes?
She is also very cute protecting her eggs all the time, which wont hatch due to no male GT.

You could also use Prime as a water conditioner. It help to make the ammonia less toxic to the fish. I would suggest picking up some prime when you get your test kit

The cycling with fish thread here can also help to explain haow to best handle your current situation. There is a link to it in my sig

If you take your time to do the research FIRST, you can successfully set-up and keep ANY type of aquarium with ease."Not using a quarantine tank is like playing Russian roulette. Nobody wins the game, some people just get to play longer than others." - Anthony CalfoFishless CycleCycling with FishMarine Aquarium Info [URL="http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.com/"]